By Derek Wilson
Marinscope
Officials around Marin County are excited about the possibility of bringing more students back to campus within the next two months.
The Mill Valley School District Board of Trustees voted on Feb. 11 to direct staff to prepare for full-day in-person instruction by April 12 at the earliest, allowing for 43 days of on-site learning. The plan is contingent on staff who will be in contact with cohorts receiving both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a notice to the community, MVSD officials wrote, “While the science behind school transmission rates does support a full classroom model, we have heard teacher and staff concerns. Our goal is to provide all in-person staff the opportunity to be vaccinated prior to our full classroom and longer day schedule. We are extremely appreciative and proud of our staff members, and this additional measure reinforces our respect and commitment to safety.”
MVSD students will have the option to stay with an Extended Distance Learning program. The MVSD includes Edna Maguire, Old Mill, Strawberry Point, Mill Valley Middle School, Park School and Tam Valley.
“Mill Valley and Larkspur are looking to potentially increase the amount of time students are back in school,” said Mary Jane Burke, Marin County Superintendent of Schools.
Meanwhile, the Novato Unified School District Board of Trustees voted Feb. 9 to bring 7th and 8th grade students in the Flexible In-Person Learning program back to campus in a hybrid model. (See more on Novato on Page A8.) Sixth grade students were already back on campus when the district’s move to in-person learning on middle school sites was paused in December by an increase in COVID cases around Marin. Now, more middle school students will be allowed to go back to class.
The Ross Valley School District has been operating with a hybrid model, with a goal of a full return to in-person learning with shortened school days by the Spring 2021.
“The best word to describe this school year is ‘evolving’ — based on science and public health,” Burke said. “Our doctors who have helped guide us since last March,” Burke said. “It’s unprecedented, it has required a level of unprecedented flexibility from our teachers staff, parents and community.”
Closely following Public Health protocols and procedures delineated in individual school safety plans, some campuses were allowed to reopen Sept. 8, 2020, after nearly six months of pandemic-caused closures and exclusively online learning. Since September, many schools have expanded the number of students they are serving in-person using a carefully planned, phased-in strategy.
According to figures maintained by Marin County Public Health and the Marin County Office of Education, there have been only 10 cases of suspected in-school transmission of COVID-19 as of February 5. Of those, five were student-to-student, three were adult-to-adult, and two were adult-to-student. There have been no student-to-adult transmissions in school.
“We have been able to show that we can reopen safely if we follow the protocols,” Burke said. “The issues with vaccinations is one where, when it’s our turn, our educators are able to get vaccinated. About 25 percent of school staff have been offered vaccinations so far. A majority of those went to custodians, bus drivers, those over 65, and special ed instructors. There have been others who were vaccinated through other employers.”
Local public schools were first ordered to close on March 16, 2020. Counting up each day that any student attends school in person, this week Marin will reach 1 million combined “student days” of in-classroom instruction since the partial reopening Sept. 8.
Burke, said it’s a meaningful milestone.
“March will be a year,” she said. “I was thinking we’d be open again in April 2020. I was wrong. But that’s the key — to be resilient in an extraordinary time. We owe a lot to our front line essential workers, including our teachers and staff for all they’ve done.”
“We see each day that a child is in school, joining their classmates and teachers, as a success,” said Dr. Lisa Santora, Marin County Deputy Public Health Officer. “Every day that’s the reality for over 17,000 Marin students, and the number is rising. The landmark of 1 million combined days in school for children across Marin is something the whole community can be proud of.”
Santora said data has shown that schools are not a driver of community transmission but rather provide safe, stable, structured, supervised, and supportive environments that reduce risk behaviors associated with COVID-19 transmission such as household mixing for child care and unsupervised gatherings for socialization.
“We are deeply indebted to the leadership of teachers, classified staff, administrators, community partners, and elected officials who recognize that the best place for students is in their schools and who work tirelessly to create safer environments for students, staff, and teachers,” Santora added. “MCOE and Public Health are committed to a transparent, publicly visible process that engages and informs our community as we move thru phases of this pandemic and re-opening all schools in Marin for full-time, in-person learning.”
As of Feb. 5, 87 percent of Marin’s schools had students receiving in-person instruction on their campuses ranging from two days per week to five days per week. Countywide, an average of 17,639 students per day were learning in classrooms, or roughly 55 percent of all students in public, private, independent and parochial schools. The figures show 164 students and 42 school staff members who have tested positive for the coronavirus during the September-January span over 96 days of in-person instruction, with only nine cases attributed to in-school transmission.
In Marin, 98 percent of elementary schools, 96 percent of K-8 schools, 89 percent of middle schools, and 29 percent of high schools have offered in-person instruction on campuses since reopening was started in September.
“Marin County schools, public and private, have led the way in showing that schools can be reopened safely for students and staff,” Burke said. “This would not be possible without the guidance and support provided by Marin County Public Health, or, without the courage and dedication of the nearly three out of four Marin teachers and school staff who are providing in-person instruction.”
After successfully operating child care programs and piloting in-person instruction in spring 2020, Public Health and MCOE issued “A Public Health Guided Return to Site-Based Classroom Instruction” in June to facilitate the return to site-based classroom instruction. They followed with guidance through the state’s waiver process, which led to the re-opening of some schools.
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